


Finding Your Feet

by Seraph_Novak



Series: Destiel One-Shots [33]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Claire Novak, Coming Out, Dean and Castiel are great dads, Domestic, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/F, Family Fluff, First Love, Hot Chocolate, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, One Shot, POV Castiel, supportive parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 12:10:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13481205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seraph_Novak/pseuds/Seraph_Novak
Summary: When Claire is rejected by her best friend, it's up to Dean and Castiel to teach her a little something about love, heartbreak, and finding the courage to fight for the things you care about.





	Finding Your Feet

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! I fell in love with Claire & Kaia pretty much straight away. They have real chemistry, and I'm confident the writers are planning on making them canon eventually (assuming Wayward Sisters gets picked up, and the girls find a way to bring the 'real' Kaia back). They're not as beautiful as Destiel, but they're pretty damn cute. So I figured I may as well combine Claia and Destiel to create one huge ball of fluff! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are very much appreciated. Thanks for reading :) ♥

Claire was home early. Castiel had heard the familiar sound of her footsteps scurrying up the stairs less than ten minutes after school had finished. It was highly unusual. Claire was a sociable girl; unless she was weighed down by homework or unfinished chores, she’d usually spend some time with her friends before coming home. It wasn’t uncommon for her to stay out until after dark – though a few stern words from Dean had quickly nipped that habit in the bud.

The fact that she was home so early on the first day back after summer was particularly strange. It was something of a tradition for Claire and her friends to ‘celebrate’ their reunion after vacation by going to see a movie together. Castiel had given her some extra cash to buy some popcorn that very morning, and Claire had seemed excited. So, what on earth could have happened to ruin her plans? He hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. Claire was an absolute nightmare when she was sick – just one of many things that she and Dean had in common.

When he heard her bedroom door slam shut, Castiel put down his book and stood at the foot of the stairs. He studied Claire’s door – the first one on the left – and silently weighed the pros and cons of approaching her straight away. On one hand, he was obviously concerned for his daughter; but on the other, he didn’t want to pressure her into telling him what had happened too soon. Perhaps she needed some time alone. The screaming music pulsing from her bedroom _did_ seem an audible ‘do not disturb’ sign.

After a while, he decided to give her some space – against his better judgement. He didn’t feel overly comfortable sitting downstairs while his daughter was likely in distress right above him, but teenagers were a complicated kind. They responded to gestures of comfort in unpredictable ways. If he went upstairs now, Claire could possibly launch something at his head. Or worse. It was probably best to avoid the wrath of his teenage daughter by laying low for a few hours. He’d wait until Dean was back from the salvage yard, and then they’d come up with a decent strategy together. The good cop, bad cop routine usually worked. But if Claire was upset, the situation might call for a different approach. Either way, it was far too risky to go it alone.

He was back to reading his book – despite none of the words sinking in – when Dean’s car pulled into the garage. Castiel sprang up from his chair and hurried to meet his husband at the door. Dean was still dressed in oil-streaked overalls, but that didn’t stop Castiel from leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. After eighteen years of marriage, he was more than used to the smell of gas tickling his nostrils.  

“Well, this is new,” Dean chuckled. “You waiting by the door for me now?”

“It’s Claire. I think something’s wrong with her.”

Dean’s face fell. “What? What d’you mean?”

“She came straight home after school.”

“I thought she was going to the movies with her friends? First day back and all.”

“I thought so too. But then I heard the door slam, and I – Dean, she didn’t even say _hello_ to me. She’s been in her room for almost three hours now, just listening to music. Rather loudly, should I add.”

“Okay,” Dean squeezed his shoulder, then hung his jacket up. His face was hard as he stepped around Castiel and started up the stairs.

“You can’t just go up there, Dean!”

“What else are we supposed to do? She’s a teenager, Cas. She could be up there for weeks.”

“But what if she’s not ready to talk yet?”

“If she’s upset about something, I wanna know what it is. It could be bullies, for all we know.”

“This is Claire we’re talking about. She once stuffed a senior into his locker for pulling Kaia’s hair. I refuse to believe she’d let anyone bully her.”

“Well, maybe it’s not the noogies and wet willies kinda bullying.”

“You mean, _verbal_ abuse?”

“It’s possible. You know kids can be assholes, Cas. Fuck, we know that better than anyone.”

Castiel thought back to their sophomore year in high school, when he and Dean had first started dating. He remembered ending up in the nurse’s office with a split lip and a sprained wrist, just for holding Dean’s hand in the corridor. Dean had fought back by breaking the bully’s nose, but nothing had improved. Not until they’d graduated and moved away. People still gave them dirty looks, even now, but nothing came close to the abuse they’d suffered in school. The very idea of Claire going through the same thing made him sick to his stomach.

“Alright,” he reached for Dean’s hand. He did that a lot; it was his own little way of saying ‘screw you’ to all the people who thought it was disgusting and wrong. He loved holding Dean’s hand, and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “You’re right. We need to talk to her now. But let’s at least try and be sensitive about this.”

“How d’you mean?”

“Well, barging into her room and demanding answers isn’t going to solve anything. We need to approach the situation gently.”

“How?”

Castiel smiled. “Do you remember what you used to do for me, when things got really tough in high school? You’d make me hot chocolate, and then we’d spend the night watching old movies together. That used to help far more than all the counselling and praying my parents forced upon me.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do, Dean. That was one of the many reasons I fell in love with you.”

“I never knew that,” Dean said, his voice incredibly soft. “I kinda thought you hated all those movies.”

“Oh, I did. But it’s the fact that you were there for me that made it special. All I needed was to know that someone had my back, even if the rest of the world had turned on me. And I think that’s probably what Claire needs right now.”

Dean considered this for a moment, then sighed. “Okay. Maybe you’re right. So, what’s the plan?”

“You make the hot chocolate; I’ll go find us a movie to watch.”

“You sure this is gonna work?”

“Not completely. But it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

“I suppose,” Dean kissed his knuckles, then headed into the kitchen. “Just don’t pick anything with Hugh Grant in it!”

Ten minutes later, and everything was set up. Castiel had picked the first happy movie he could find – a classic chick-flick that Dean had pretended not to like – and Dean had fixed them up some cocoa. All that was left to do was somehow coax Claire out of her room without making it too obvious they were trying to cheer her up. If Claire realised they knew something was wrong, she’d get embarrassed and hide away. Her stubbornness was, again, a characteristic she’d adopted from Dean. Castiel sometimes believed they were one in the same person.

“She’s gonna clock on straight away,” Dean said as they stood outside her bedroom, hot chocolate in hand. “She ain’t stupid.”

“Well, let’s just wait and see.”

“Alright. But _you_ can do the talking.”

“How noble of you.”

“Oh, c’mon. She’ll jump out the window if I try and talk to her. We both know you’re her favourite, Cas.”

“That’s not true. You and Claire are just very alike, to the point where you rub each other the wrong way at times. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t love us equally.”

“Yeah, yeah. But this situation calls for the good cop, and that’s you.”

“Fair enough,” Castiel straightened up, then knocked on the door. “Here goes nothing.”

It took four more knocks before the music was turned down. Castiel pressed his ear against the door, listening for the sound of footsteps. When he sensed that Claire was standing on the other side, he began to speak.

“Claire? Your father and I were thinking of watching a movie. Would you care to join us?”

A sniff. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Are you sure? We’ve got hot chocolate too, and I was thinking about running down to the store to get some of those white chocolate cookies you like.”

Dean shook his head. “You’re laying it on too thick.”

“What else am I supposed to do?”

“How about a more direct approach?”

“Dean, we talked about this.”

“And I _told_ you she’s not stupid. How’re we supposed to figure out what’s wrong if we keep tip-toeing around the subject?”

“I don’t want to scare her off.”

“Well, I’m gonna take that risk,” Dean passed him the hot chocolate, then rapped his knuckles on the door. “You better be decent, ‘cause I’m coming in.”

Claire was sat next to the door, her eyes red and puffy with tears. Castiel swallowed a gasp and dropped to his knees. Hot chocolate spilled over the rim of the mug, staining his plaid pyjama pants, but all he could seem to focus on was his daughter. After a moment, he felt Dean’s hand on his shoulder. They were both watching Claire – Dean standing, and Castiel kneeling. It took a long moment for either of them to find the courage to speak; it was Dean who finally broke the silence.

“Tell us what happened, Claire-Bear.”

“I can’t,” she whimpered. “God, pops. I’m such an idiot.”

“Oh, c’mon. That ain’t true.”

“I’ve screwed everything up.”

“How?”

“I just – I couldn’t keep it in for one more year. All I had to do was graduate, go to college, and everything would be fine. But I messed up. I, I couldn’t keep pretending anymore.”

Castiel cupped the side of her face, brushing away the tears with his thumb. “Talk to us, Claire. Please talk to us.”

“It’s so dumb.”

“Nothing you do could ever be dumb.”

“Trust me, _this_ was.”

“You can tell us, sweetheart. You know we won’t judge you.”

Claire swallowed a few times, then blinked away the tears. She was twisting the sleeves of her sweater between her hands. Castiel hadn’t seen her do that since she was ten, when she’d landed the leading role in the school’s production of Annie. He’d never felt prouder, watching her on that stage, all eyes on her. But this was different. It was more than just nerves; it was fear. The raw kind of terror you only experience when the world around you is falling apart. He’d been trying to shield her from that kind of fear her entire life, but maybe some things _had_ to be felt at some point. Even the terrible things. Maybe that was just a way of life.

“I kissed someone,” Claire said. “Someone I really, _really_ shouldn’t have kissed. Fuck, I’m such a moron!”

“It’s alright,” Castiel bit back the urge to scold her for saying the F-word. It was just a force of habit. “Kissing someone isn’t the end of the world, Claire. You’re still young. You’re probably going to kiss a lot of people in your life, and not all of them will want to kiss you back. But that doesn’t make you a ‘moron’ by any means.”

Claire knocked the back of her head against the wall and groaned. “No, you don’t get it. It’s not the kissing thing that’s bad. It’s _who_ I kissed. I’ve completely screwed up our friendship. She’s never gonna talk to me again.”

“She?” Castiel tried so hard to make it sound casual, but even _he_ could hear the surprise in his voice. “You kissed a girl?”

Claire shrugged. “Yeah.”

“That’s cool,” Dean said, crouching down beside them. “I mean, girls liking girls ain’t exactly a problem nowadays. You’ll get the odd asshole who thinks it wrong, but who the fuck cares what they think? You wanna kiss girls, you go ahead and kiss girls.”

“I know it’s okay to be gay. Or bi, whatever. I’m still figuring that part out. I don’t give a crap about the homophobes.”

“Then what is it?” Castiel asked. He was playing with the hair tucked behind her ear. That always used to calm her down when she was little.

Claire sniffed. “I just really like her.”

“But she doesn’t like you back?”

“I dunno. After I kissed her, I freaked out. I just ran away.”

“Maybe you should talk to her.”

“No way.”

“What are you afraid of?”

“Losing her,” Claire said. Hot tears were spilling over her cheeks, wetting Castiel’s fingers. “She’s my best friend, dad. I love her.”

Dean and Castiel exchanged a look. Ever since Claire’s first day of elementary school, she’d only ever had one best friend. The two of them were inseparable. She’d had plenty of friends growing up, but only one friendship had really stood the test of time. It was a shock, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He and Dean had been best friends since kindergarten, after all; he knew what it was like to fall in love when you were barely old enough to understand what love was.

“Kaia,” he said, smiling despite himself. He felt like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. “That’s who you kissed, isn’t it?”

Claire shrugged again. “Yeah.”

“How long have you had feelings for her?”

“A while. Like, two years now. I thought I could control myself, but she looked so good today. She spent the summer with her aunt, you know? I haven’t seen her since June.” Her eyes softened for a moment. “She’s started wearing her hair curly again. I love it when she does that.”

“So, how did it happen?” Dean asked. “Was it just a heat of the moment kinda thing?”

“We were standing by her locker, talking about some stupid summer reading I forgot to do, and she stopped me mid-sentence and took this eyelash off my cheek. But it was really weird, ‘cause she was just smiling at me the whole time. So, you know, I thought she was trying to tell me something. But, when I leaned in, she shoved me away. So, I grabbed my stuff and bailed. That’s that.”

“Maybe she was just confused,” Castiel suggested. “Maybe you took her by surprise. Did you even stop to ask her why she reacted that way?”

“No, but –”

“Don’t you think you should talk to her then? You’re best friends, Claire. You’re meant to give each other the benefit of the doubt.”

“But what if she doesn’t like me back, dad? I mean, imagine if pops had turned you down.”

Castiel couldn’t imagine what he would have done if Dean hadn’t kissed him back beneath that bridge when they were fifteen. The pouring rain had given him a confidence he’d never had before; he’d felt wild and free, like nothing could touch him. If Dean had shoved him away in that moment, Castiel’s spirit would have been crushed. They wouldn’t have started dating; they wouldn’t have gotten married; they wouldn’t have adopted Claire. His entire life would have been a shell of the one he was living. 

“‘What if’s’ are dangerous,” he said. “If there’s even the slightest chance that Kaia feels the same way, you have to talk to her. Just think of the life you could be throwing away. You two could have a future together.”

“I, I don’t think –”

“That girl dotes on you, Claire. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that she returns your feelings.”

Claire buried her face between her knees. “I’m scared.”

“That just means it’s real, and the real things are the ones worth fighting for.”

“You really think I’ve got a shot?”

“Damn straight,” Dean grinned. “You know, the more I think about it, the more I realise how fricking blind we’ve been this whole time. You and Kaia, you’re a lot like me and your dad used to be. We’d been best friends since we were kids, but it took years for me to realise I was in love with the guy. I wasn’t expecting it; I just looked at him one day and saw something I’d never seen before. I guess it was kinda like that for you too, right?”

Claire was chewing her sleeve – another nervous habit of hers. “I was messing around with Ben’s skateboard at some stupid party,” she said. “I fell off and bust up my hands, and Kaia bandaged them for me. She was really gentle, you know? And the way she smiled at me… I guess I was a goner after that day.”

Dean glanced at Castiel and smiled. “Being a goner ain’t all that bad.”

“It is when the person you like doesn’t like you back.”

“Again, we don’t know that for sure.”

Claire didn’t say anything. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned her head against her crossed arms. Castiel could tell she was done talking; they’d been lucky to get as much out of her as they had. The fact that she’d spilled so easily worried him. She must have been harbouring this secret for so long, she couldn’t bear to keep it in any longer. Why hadn’t they noticed something was wrong? That’s what parents were for, wasn’t it? Even if Claire had tried her very hardest to disguise the pain and confusion she was going through, they still should have been able to spot something. There was no point in casting blame, but it still saddened Castiel. He should have been there for his little girl, even if she wasn’t so little anymore.

“Come on,” he lifted Claire’s chin. “This hot chocolate’s getting cold. And your father’s just _itching_ to watch this movie.”

Dean spluttered. “Am I?”

“Everyone knows you love chick-flicks, Dean. Give it up already.”

The astonished look on Dean’s face managed to rouse a tiny smile out of Claire. It wasn’t one of her usual cocky smirks, but it was progress. Castiel was just relieved to see a piece of his daughter still shining through. Maybe he could still shelter her from heartbreak for a few more years – maybe even forever, if he was right about Kaia. He’d certainly been right about Dean.

They spent the rest of the night goofing off, the way they used to do when Claire was younger. Dean made some fresh cocoa, and Claire accompanied Castiel to the store to buy a couple boxes of white chocolate cookies. They sat on the couch – Claire’s head in Castiel’s lap, her legs sprawled out over Dean’s – and watched the film with their cocoa and cookies. Claire and Dean spent most of the movie joking about the bad dialogue and cheesy music, but Castiel was pretty sure they secretly liked it. Neither of them could find anything negative to say when the final kiss came along. He wondered if Claire was thinking about Kaia as she watched the two main characters embrace. The softness in her eyes made him think so.

That was the way Dean always looked at him.  


* * *

  
He was chopping carrots when he heard the front door open the next day. Dean was sat at the kitchen table, lazily peeling potatoes and singing off-key. Castiel kept flicking bits of carrot at him, trying to hide his smile whenever Dean grumbled in disgust. They were acting like a couple of kids, and he loved it. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Claire, and how she was doing. So, when the front door opened, he dropped his knife and was out of the kitchen in a flash.

“School finished almost four hours ago, Claire. Where on earth have you –” the words got stuck in his throat when he saw his daughter standing in the entryway, a shy kind of smile touching her lips. She wasn’t alone; Kaia was stood beside her, holding her hand.

Claire shrugged. “Guess you were right, dad.”

“Well, whaddya know,” Dean walked up behind him and grinned. “All that drama for nothing.”

“Shaddup.”

“She cried herself to sleep last night,” Dean mock-whispered to Kaia. “Downed two pints of ice cream as well.”

Kaia snorted, and Claire blushed.

“You’re the worst.”

“Careful, Claire-Bear. You’re turning redder than the front door.”

Castiel elbowed Dean in the ribs, rolling his eyes fondly. “Would you like to stay for dinner, Kaia? It should be ready in an hour or so, if these two ever stop bickering.”

“Sure,” Kaia said. She smiled at Claire and knocked their hips together. “Dinner sounds awesome.”

Claire bit her lip, then ducked her head. She was in love, and it made Castiel’s heart swell with pride. He and Dean had raised a pretty amazing young woman. She might not have been theirs by blood, but she was their daughter – in every sense of the word. Seeing her so happy filled him with a dizzy kind of joy.

“Do you remember when it was like that?” he murmured to Dean once they were back in the kitchen. He was rinsing the carrots under the sink, and Dean was back to peeling potatoes in slow motion. “The honeymoon phase?”

Dean grabbed his hips and kissed the back of his neck. “Baby, I’m still in the honeymoon phase.”

Castiel chuckled. “We’re in our forties, you know?”   

“Doesn’t make a difference. You still make me feel like a teenager, Cas.”

“I do?”

“Well, _yeah_ ,” he turned Castiel in his arms and pressed their foreheads together. “You still manage to drive me crazy.”

“Do you think we’re just lucky?”

“I guess that’s part of it. But we’ve had to fight as well, you know? That’s what you’ve gotta do in life. Fight for the things you love.” He glanced up at the ceiling, where Claire and Kaia were giggling above their heads. “That’s what we’ve taught our girl to do.”

“We must be good parents.”

“Oh, we’re _awesome_ parents.”

“You think?”

“We tamed a heartbroken teenage girl last night,” Dean said. “We’re fucking gods.”

Castiel laughed. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Dean gave him a kiss – chaste and sweet, just the way he liked it. “So, do I have permission to embarrass Claire at the dinner table? I could whip out the ol’ baby photos, make a night of it.”

“Next time,” he said, shaking his head with a smile. How had he ended up married to an overgrown child? “But let’s back off for now. I think she’s enjoying herself.”

“See. That’s why you’re good cop, and I’m terrible father cop.”

“I think I’m just a better person in general.”

Dean grinned. “Ah, I see where Claire gets her modesty from now.”

“That’s all you.”

“You’re such an ass,” Dean snickered, then paused. His smile faded away, his expression turning serious for a moment. “Do you really think she’s gonna be okay? I mean, even if this thing with Kaia doesn’t last. How the hell’re we supposed to protect her, Cas? We can’t expect cocoa and cookies to solve everything.”

Castiel brushed his fingers across Dean’s cheek and shrugged. “Maybe we’re not supposed to. Not all the time, at least. There has to be some things she figures out for herself. And maybe that’s okay.”

“I hate seeing her sad. It fucking kills me.”

“I know. Me too. But she’s strong, Dean. She’s a Winchester.”

Dean huffed a laugh. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“Good cop is always right.”

“Good cop also has crappy taste in movies.”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy that film last night. I saw you crying at the end.”

“Yeah. Tears of joy, ‘cause it was over.”

“Sure,” Castiel shoved him away with a smirk. “Now, peel those potatoes before they start to sprout.”

“Drama Queen.”

Castiel pretended not to hear him. He was too busy smiling to say something snarky in return anyway. In fact, his cheeks were starting to _ache_ he was smiling so hard. He was having one of those moments when life was wonderful, and everything was as it should be. His daughter was upstairs, drunk on the fumes of first love, and his husband was sat behind him, grumbling about potatoes and peeling and slicing his delicate skin. He had everything he wanted under one roof.

What more could you possibly ask for?


End file.
